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Barack Obama has two faces. After Trump’s victory and Hillary’s defeat, the public Obama has been gracious and diplomatic. His lectures to Trump, directly and indirectly, are couched in praise. He echoed the feeling of millions on both sides when he said, “We are now all rooting for his success”.

That’s a lie. Or rather a disguise.

Obama and his aides had, in one insider narrative, decided to don the “mask of decorum”. The contempt for Trump still seeps through the mask. And the mask hides Obama’s next big move.

President Obama is over. He knows that. There are still some things that he can do before he leaves office, but everything except the most destructive, can be undone by his successor. The next phase of his campaign will not be fought from the White House. It will be fought against the White House .

The other Obama is emerging in conference calls with his supporters. “One of the challenges that I’ve discovered being president is I’d like to be organizer-in-chief, but it’s hard,” he said in one call.

Obama can no longer be commander-in-chief. Instead he’s plotting to become organizer-in-chief.

The infrastructure for the organization was put into place long before anyone thought that Hillary might lose. Organizing for Action gave him his own organizing hub. If Hillary had won, it would have been a pressure group. Now that Trump won, it’s an axis to build a personal counterrevolution around.

In his post-election conference call with his OFA troops, Obama told them, “I’m giving you like a week and a half to get over it”. Then it would be time to “move forward not only to protect what we’ve accomplished, but also to see this as an opportunity”. What opportunity could there be in Trump’s win?

Obama is now the only major national figure still standing among the Democrats. After Hillary’s defeat, he’s worked hard to attribute the loss to her shortcomings, not his policies and decisions. That’s not just to soothe his ego. If he’s going to dictate the future of his party, he can’t afford to be blamed for its latest disaster. And Obama is still determined to dictate the future of the party and the country.

In conventional politics, Obama is done. There’s no way back into the White House. And Hillary’s fate won’t leave much enthusiasm for nominating the uncharismatic spouse of a charismatic ex-president.

But Obama is not a conventional politician. He’s an organizer and a campaigner at the vanguard of a radical movement that seeks to control traditional institutions, but doesn’t feel bound by them. Unlike Bill Clinton, his plans don’t begin and end with the White House. As an organizer, Obama is equipped to build bases of power outside traditional institutions. And that is exactly what he is doing.

The demoralization of the Democrats is, as Obama put it, an opportunity. Social chaos is a time for the left to overthrow and undermine traditional institutions. Fear, anger and despair are radicalizing. The left has always operated by throwing bombs and then profiting from the fallout. That’s Obama’s agenda. Having wrecked the country and the Democrats, he sees that not as a setback, but as an opportunity.

“The network that you represent, you’re perfectly poised to do that,” Obama told his OFAers. “In other words, now is the time for some organizing.”

While the leftist rioters in the streets are garnering the most attention, the real threat comes from the network of staffers dubbed Obama Anonymous which are beginning to organize and coordinate. OFA is Obama’s equivalent of the Clinton Foundation. The Clintons built Clintonworld around staffers, but its goal was harvesting money. Obama Inc. is being built around organizing and activism. Like Clintonworld, it will be a network encompassing a variety of political and non-profit institutions. Unlike them, it will be much less focused on directing money to its bosses in preparation for an election. Instead it will function like a traditional leftist movement, merging influence operations with crowdsourced mobilization.

OFA will be far more dangerous in the wild than the Clinton Foundation ever was. The Clintons hoped to ride back to power on a giant wave of money. Obama is taking a much more radical course.

The staffers exiting government are being wired into Obama Inc. whether or not they take jobs directly working for him. The OFA alumni are building networks across organizations while taking their marching orders from him. They expect Obama to lead them back from the wilderness and into the halls of power.

He’s told them so.

“I’m going to be constrained in what I do with all of you until I am again a private citizen. But that’s not so far off,” he assured them. “I’m still fired up and I’m still ready to go.” His next comments promised that radical political change could and would take place.

Obama isn’t going to retire. He’s not going to spend years puttering around with a presidential library. He’s not even going to set up a Clintonesque slush fund and try to make his wife president. Instead he wants to force radical change from outside the White House by using the network he’s built.

While the public Obama wraps up business at the White House, concludes yet another world tour, alternating between praising Trump and offering him condescending advice, the other Obama is preparing to deploy a network that will dominate the Dems and set the agenda on the left.

If Obama succeeds, then he will get another shot at picking his White House successor. But beyond that, he’s been handed the keys to an organizing machine that will allow him to set even more of the agenda for his party than ever before. And he has a cause that is sending the party reeling back into his arms.

Obama believes that he can rule America from outside the White House. And he might be right.

Political norms and old rules have been falling faster than leaves in an autumn wind. If Obama sets out to move the center of power outside the White House and into an organization that will control national politics through the left, it would be dangerous to assume that he can’t and won’t succeed.

The Democrats didn’t respond to their defeat, one of a sequence, by trying to move to the center. Instead there is every sign that they are moving further to the left. Keith Ellison, a radical leftist with an anti-Semitic past, is tipped to head the DNC. Schumer still has the Senate, but Elizabeth Warren may have it before too long. Combine that with Obama as the president-in-exile and the Dems will be more radical and extremist than they were even when Obama was sitting in the White House.

The Democrats are ceasing to be a national party. Instead they are becoming a nationalizing party. They are losing their presence in much of the country, from state legislature to state legislature, and becoming the party of major cities and the national government. Their agenda is to move power from local areas to central ones, from the villages and the suburbs to the cities, from states to D.C. and from locally elected legislators in D.C. to the satellite bureaucracies of the Federal government.

Obama sees Hillary’s defeat as an opportunity to burn the Dem’s last bridges with the larger country and its “bitter clingers”, to double down on nationalizing power and to define the political narrative around the agendas of urban elites. The left crippled the Democrats. Now it wants to utterly consume them.

Barack Obama is still being vague and coy about his plans. He informs reporters that he will attack Trump when it comes to “core questions about our values and ideals”. But the “faithful” are getting much clearer signals. “You’re going to see me early next year, and we’re going to be in a position where we can start cooking up all kinds of great stuff to do.”

The election was a catastrophic disaster for the Democrats, but it opened all sorts of doors for Obama.

Hillary’s defeat removes the Clintons, his only real internal rivals, off the stage. Trump’s triumph in working class areas cuts more ties with the traditional Dem base and transforms it into a party of left-wing urban elites and their radical agendas. And the popular figures on the left, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Keith Ellison, lack his national stature, speaking skills and organization.

Obama will move to consolidate the left. And then the Democrats. He will function as a president-in-exile heading up the opposition to Trump. When it comes to verbally challenging Trump, Obama will be more likely to be interviewed and heard than Ellison or Schumer. And his people will coordinate responses across the left from street level organizing to think tanks and policy moves.

Some of it is ego.

Obama believes that he can find the key to beating Trump in the traditional tactics of the left. But most is ideology and power. Obama is not done transforming America. And America isn’t done with him yet.

The Secretary of State for the UK's Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy department issues his backing for the UK's onshore shale gas industry and set out a series of actions to support the sector.

Brazilian oil company Petrobras is looking to farm-out parts of its ownership in four blocks in located in the Deepwater Sergipe-Alagoas Basin, across an exploration area of 44,370 square kilometers . ...

ADES International, a provider of offshore and onshore oil and gas drilling and production services, has secured a new loan from a Saudi bank to finance the acquisition of three jack-ups from Nabors. ...

Australian LNG player Woodside is looking to up the pace on the development of the Scarborough gas field off the country's northwestern coast. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Harvey Gulf International Marine, the New Orleans-based LNG-fueled PSV owner and LNG bunkering pioneer, saw its final plan of reorganization approved by the United States Bankruptcy Court. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

MAN Diesel & Turbo has been selected to provide a complete propulsion package and fuel-gas system for the world’s first fishing vessel with LNG propulsion. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have called for public comments on the Jordan Cove Energy project proposed for the North Spit of Coos Bay near... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

The Fluxys-operated Zeebrugge liquefied natural gas terminal is scheduled to host five LNG carriers over the next 15 days. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Oslo-based Awilco LNG, the owner of two 156,000-cbm LNG carriers, reported a profit of $1 million in the first quarter of this year as compared to a loss of $31.8 million in the comparable period... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Russian giant Gazprom and its Japanese partner Mitsui discussed the progress of its small- and mid-scale LNG cooperation. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

You are probably aware of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that will come into effect on May 25th. In a nutshell, it means your personal data will be better protected, hence... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

You are probably aware of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that will come into effect on May 25, 2018. In a nutshell it means your personal data will be better protected, hence... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Nautilus Minerals has completed the first trial of its newly-developed autonomous sediment sampler. The insect-inspired creation is dubbed the “Nautilus Jumping Spider” and resembling its animal... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Impact Subsea has appointed Craig Thorburn as operations manager, who will be responsible for product production and customer support. Craig will be based at the Impact Subsea headquarters in... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Unmanned Survey Solutions’ new Accession Class unmanned surface vessels (USVs) have been given the green light following the funding from Marine-i Marine Challenge Fund, supported by the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Nord Stream 2, the developer of the twin pipeline to supply Russian natural gas to the EU market, released 90,000 young Atlantic salmon as compensation for potential temporary damage to fisheries... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Gulf of Mexico-focused vessel operator Harvey Gulf International Marine has been granted approval for its ﬁnal Plan of Reorganization by the United States Bankruptcy Court. The approval comes just 77... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) has appointed Terry Makewell to the position of chief technology officer. According to UKHO, this appointment will support it in delivering its vision of becoming... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Aquaterra Energy has made two senior management promotions to spearhead its continued growth strategy. George Morrison becomes group CEO of parent company Aquaterra Energy Group, while James Larnder... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Minesto has completed the installation of the micro grid system (MGS) buoy that will be used for the company’s first tidal energy installation in Holyhead Deep, Wales. Moored to the seabed using... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Tymor Marine has appointed Matthew Heyman as business development manager of the company. Matthew has over twenty years maritime industry experience with companies including Wilhelmsen, Maersk and... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Statoil’s active leases in the Gulf of Mexico

Scientists now think there could be microscopic life floating in the clouds of Venus. Their theory is surprising, considering how inhospitable the surface of Venus is. But in the clouds, the possibility of life is very real. Following is a transcript of the video. Despite decades of searching distant planets and stars for alien life we’re still empty-handed. […]

Childbirth is an amazing process. But unless you've witnessed or experienced it, you might not realize just how powerful the moment can be. That's why there are birth photos, which show people what the process is like — and prove that there is no one way for a woman to give birth. To celebrate birth and the photographers that capture it, the Intern […]

A big new European privacy regulation called GDPR goes into effect on May 25. But, because the internet crosses borders, many of their protections apply to people around the world, including Americans. GDPR says internet companies need to ask their customers for permission to use their data in a clear and understandable way. That's why you're gett […]

The median US home value rose 8.7% year-over-year in April to $215,600, the fastest increase since 2006, according to Zillow data. San Jose, Las Vegas, and Seattle were the cities that saw the biggest increase over the period. Homes in the US haven't been this valuable since before the financial crisis. That's according to new data from Zillow, whi […]

Gifts made to commemorate the summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jung Un are now being sold for a discount at the White House gift shop. Trump cancelled the meeting this morning. The gifts were made to complement a coin made by the White House that went viral earlier this week. People started joking about it as soon as the cancellatio […]

Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said the company's board is no longer fighting for control after he proposed a new structure last October. His proposals curtailed former CEO Travis Kalanick's voting power. He said fixing Uber's governance was his first job as CEO, and that he then moved onto company culture and strategy. Khosrowshahi co […]

AirlineRatings.com recently surveyed its readers to find out which types of passengers people find most annoying on a plane. Of the more than 5,300 people who responded to the survey, 78% found people who smell bad to be the worst passengers to be around. Other types of passengers to make the top 10 include out of control kids and people who bring too many c […]

Eight women accused Morgan Freeman of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior in a CNN report published Thursday. The accusers included CNN reporter Chloe Melas, the coauthor of CNN's report, who alleged that Freeman subjected her to inappropriate comments about her appearance at a press junket. Altogether, CNN spoke to 16 people who "describe […]

President Donald Trump's cancellation of the planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reportedly caught South Korea's president by surprise, and he's called an emergency meeting at midnight, local time. It looks like Trump didn't tell anyone before he decided to pull out of the summit. President Donald Trump's cancellatio […]

Mary Beth Buchanan, a former federal prosecutor appointed by President George W. Bush, has been hired by crypto exchange Kraken, according to people familiar with the matter. The regulatory environment has been murky for companies like Kraken given the nascent nature of the crypto market. Notably, the US has reportedly opened a criminal probe into market m […]

Authored by Kevin Muir via The Macro Tourist blog, It’s now cool to be bearish bonds. A couple of years ago you were labeled a pariah for even suggesting inflation might pick up. The few of us that argued locking in 10-year money at 1.4% wasn’t a good risk reward supposedly didn’t understand the overwhelming three Ds - debt, demographics and deflation. Yeah, […]

Two days ago, when looking at the ongoing turmoil gripping the Italian market, where the imminent formation of a populist, Euroskeptic government with a penchant for spending and threatening to impose a "parallel currency", the "Mini-BoT" has sent Italian yields soaring to the highest level in years, we noted something more troubling not […]

Authored by Amity blog via Safehaven.com, In early November, while Bitcoin enthusiasts and investors were waiting for a long-anticipated update to the software that supports the famous digital currency, a mass email from the group behind the project informed everyone that they were canceling the update. For months, Segwit2x, as the update was called, was at […]

Having been a dollar bull for several months, Bloomberg's Mark Cudmore now thinks it's about time for the long-term dollar downtrend to resume. All the key drivers of strength have run their course and it's more likely that the marginal developments from here will weigh on the dollar... Via Bloomberg, After rising more than 4% in the last five […]

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) fired off a letter to the Department of Justice Wednesday demanding unredacted versions of text messages between FBI agent Peter Strzok and former bureau attorney Lisa Page, including one exchange which took place after Strzok had returned from London as part of the recently launched "Operation C […]

Update: Trump said that while he hopes that talks will lead to a favorable outcome, the US military is remains ready to act if necessary. The comments represent a return to the menacing Trump rhetoric of last year. Trump added that the talks could still take place as originally planned. *TRUMP SAYS CANCELLATION OF KIM SUMMIT BASED ON KIM'S STATEMENTS *T […]

Authored by Tho Bishop via The Mises Institute, Nicolás Maduro may have received more votes in Venezuela’s recent presidential election, but the record-low voter turnout is widely seen as its own form of protest against his increasingly oppressive socialist regime. So as long as Maduro’s government controls the voting process, his opponents will continue to […]

In the second round of sanctions announced this week, the Treasury Department on Thursday said it would impose sanctions on several Iranian and Turkish companies, as well as aircraft connected to those companies, in a move that targets four Iranian airlines. The sanctions were levied against nine individuals and entities for "procuring export-controlled […]

Having collapsed this morning following a profit warning (and mass layoffs) this morning, we suspect the following chart will start to send Deutsche Bank counterparties scrambling for protection... With a market cap of just over $21 billion now, Deutsche Bank - the once most systemically-dangerous bank in the world, and German darling - is now smaller than.. […]

One month ago we reported how, three years after a historic "fat finger" wire transfer in which Deutsche Bank mistakenly sent $6 billion to a (briefly) lucky hedge fund, a routine payment at the biggest German bank "went awry" (or as Bloomberg said at the time, "was flubbed") when the bank "mistakenly" sent 28 billion […]